Pebble of Tolentino (MC)

The card was edited by Giusy Shin Aportone

Pebble of Tolentino (MC)

The card was edited by Giusy Shin Aportone


Elongated pebble of calcareous-silica stone with a sub-triangular shape which bears an anthropomorphic engraving on the front face, a female figure with a presumed herbivore (perhaps bovid or canid) head turned to the left and facing upwards, elongated snout with mouth opening clearly traced, two ears develop on the back of the head, well designed body, symmetrical breasts and well evident pubic triangle. The image of another animal's muzzle and the branching of a deer's horn are engraved on the back. The find certainly represented a sort of talisman with a ritual-religious meaning, but some evident traces observable at the base of the artifact also reveal its function as a tool.

Historical notes

Found in 1884 during excavation work in a clay quarry in Tolentino (MC) by Count Aristide Gentiloni Silverj, at a depth of about 3,5 meters. The place of discovery is on an area owned by the Silverj family.

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CARD

Name

Pebble of Tolentino (MC)

Subject

Manufactured goodsFemale figurine

Timeline

Since its discovery by Count Aristide Gentiloni Silverj, the pebble has been attributed to the Paleolithic or "early stone age". But at the time, it was 1884, these statements went against the theories of Luigi Pigorini (long-renowned archaeologist who, during his career, covered various important roles in the panorama of archeology and palethnology in Italy), those of the presumed non-existence of the Upper Paleolithic in Italy and for this reason the publication of the piece ended up in oblivion. After more than a century, the in-depth analyzes carried out by Agnese Massi, Mauro Coltorti, Francesco D'Errico, Margherita Mussi and Daniela Zampetti (1997), taking into consideration the conditions of arrangement, the characteristics of the support, the engraving techniques, the stylistic and iconographic references, have ascertained with reasonable certainty that the find is a Paleolithic work of art dated in a chronological span between 10.000 and 8.000 BC

Dating

Upper Paleolithic

Location of discovery

Contrada Sant'Egidio eastern outskirts of the city, on the hydrographic left of the Chienti river, municipality of Tolentino - Province of Macerata

Region

Marche

Environmental context

External area

exhibits exhibited

The find is currently kept in the National Archaeological Museum of the Marche, Via Gabriele Ferretti 6, Ancona – tel. 071-202602

State of conservation

Discount

Dimensions:

Length 127 mm – Width 41 mm – thickness 21 mm – weight 150 gr.

Legal condition

State property

REFERENCES

  1. Aline Averbouh, Valerie Feruglio, 2012 – “L'art mobilier pléistocène: un symposium autour des orientations et des recherches actuelles” – in Jean Clottes (cond.) – L'art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Pleistocene art in the world – Actes du Congrès IFRAO – Tarascon-sur-Ariège – September 2010 – Symposium «Art mobilier pléistocène» – N° spécial de Préhistoire – Art et Sociétés – Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées – LXVLXVI, 2010-2011 – CD p. 1267-1273;
  2. Francesca Minellono – “Annotations on two-dimensional anthropomorphic images of the Italian Paleolithic" - In Journal of Prehistoric Sciences – XLIX – Florence 1998;
  3. Agnese Massi, Mauro Coltorti, Francesco D'Errico, Margherita Mussi, Daniela Zampetti - "The "Venus" of Tolentino and the pioneers of archaeological research" - In Origins – Prehistory and Protohistory of ancient civilizations – no. XXI - Bonsignori Editore 1997 - pp. 21, 23-61.
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